Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) Downgraded to “Market Perform” at Raymond James

Raymond James downgraded shares of Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

EAT has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Brinker International from $69.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Brinker International from $69.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective on shares of Brinker International in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. KeyCorp raised Brinker International from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Brinker International from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.74.

Brinker International Stock Up 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE EAT opened at $92.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.96, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.38. Brinker International has a 52 week low of $31.95 and a 52 week high of $93.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 2.51. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $75.25 and its 200 day moving average is $66.60.

Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.04). Brinker International had a negative return on equity of 274.62% and a net margin of 3.52%. The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Brinker International will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brinker International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cetera Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Brinker International in the first quarter worth approximately $714,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Brinker International by 36.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 279,974 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,908,000 after purchasing an additional 75,225 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Brinker International by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,535,500 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $275,004,000 after purchasing an additional 135,580 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Brinker International by 231.8% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,583,239 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $78,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,046 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Brinker International by 1,686.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,972 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $13,969,000 after purchasing an additional 182,172 shares in the last quarter.

About Brinker International

Brinker International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the ownership, development, operation, and franchising of casual dining restaurants in the United States and internationally. It operates and franchises Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant brands.